Duke Farms’ 50,000-Tree Restoration To Transform 112-Acres

HILLSBOROUGH, NJ — A 112-acre ecological restoration project is underway at Duke Farms in Hillsborough along the Raritan River, following a natural resource damage settlement tied to the American Cyanamid Superfund Site in Bridgewater.

As part of the settlement, Duke Farms was able to plant 50,000 native trees and shrubs to convert retired agricultural fields into a thriving floodplain forest and scrub-shrub habitat. The project would also ultimately help with flooding in the area.

Nora Schnure, Deputy Executive Director of Personnel and Programs at Duke Farms, recently gave Patch a tour of the property to showcase the recently planted trees.

The Hillsborough project took about a couple of years to complete, including intensive management of invasive plants, planting about 50,000 native trees and shrubs, installation of deer fencing, construction of three acres of vernal pool habitat for amphibians, and seeding native grass and pollinator mixes.

The trees were planted in April along the Raritan River off River Road just after the Nevius Street Bridge. This area is known to flood when heavy rain occurs.

The project was under a Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration settlement finalized July 16, 2024, between the U.S. Department of Justice, the State of New Jersey and Wyeth Holdings LLC.

According to the Fish and Wildlife Service, the settlement addresses liability for past releases of hazardous substances at or near the American Cyanamid Site that affected floodplain, riparian, upland and wetland habitat adjacent to the Raritan River.

The restoration site at Duke Farms is about 2.8 miles upstream of the American Cyanamid Site.

The project will be monitored and adaptively managed for 15 years.

Schnure said Duke Farms is using bioacoustic monitoring to track bird species and abundance.

She also said the project will increase biodiversity.

"You've got trees that are going in. You'll have an understory because we don't have the deer pressure. So you'll have more amphibians. You'll have more small mammals. Have more birds, and that's the first thing. So increasing biodiversity," Schnure said.

It's also going to help with carbon sequestration, which
captures and securely stores atmospheric or industrial carbon dioxide to prevent it from warming the Earth's climate.

She noted that, specifically, reforested riparian areas have those deep roots to grab onto the soil better.

This will "keep the soil in the trees and in the soil itself, rather than being washed downriver," Schnure said. "Holding everything there will also help reduce the flow. It'll help stop the quick flows when we get flash floods and absorb more water. So it'll be a higher-functioning wetland."

Schnure said the project is aiming for an 80 percent tree survival rate, with annual surveys and replacement planting for what does not survive.

According to the Fish and Wildlife Service, expected benefits include re-establishing floodplain forest, enhancing habitat for birds, bats and amphibians, improving water quality in the Raritan River, and strengthening flood storage capacity and storm resiliency.

This project is among the many initiatives Duke Farms is doing.

Duke Farms is a living lab where we develop model strategies for nature restoration, wildlife conservation, and clean energy transition.

Located on 2,700 acres in Hillsborough, its campus is a gathering place for global decision-makers and local neighbors to spark change.

Duke Farms is a center of the Doris Duke Foundation, which strives to build a more creative, equitable, and sustainable future.

For more information, visit dukefarms.org.

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